Several of Liu E's disciples and his son were also preparing to go west together.
Good guy, this time it feels like a small caravan.
In later generations, Dunhuang already had highways, railways and airports. It was very easy to get there, and it only took two or three days to drive.
But now if you want to go to Dunhuang, the fastest route is to take a train along the Beijing-Hankou Railway to Zhengzhou, then go west from Zhengzhou to Xi'an, then from Xi'an to Lanzhou, and finally from Lanzhou to Dunhuang.
Although there is a waterway called the Yellow River in the north, unfortunately, the shipping capacity of the Yellow River is very poor.
On the other hand, the Yangtze River in the south has an annual freight volume of three to four billion tons in the industrial era! However, the Yellow River only has a few hundred thousand tons a year, a difference of tens of thousands of times! Compared with the Yangtze River, the freight capacity of the Yellow River is
is zero.
The reason is simple: hydrogeography.
The annual runoff of the Yangtze River reaches nearly one trillion cubic meters, while the Yellow River only has a pitiful 60 to 70 billion cubic meters, less than a fraction.
But if the flow rate is low, at least it can still be navigable by small boats. The Yangtze River can carry 3,000-ton ships, and the Yellow River should not be a problem if it can carry 3,000-400-ton ships during the wet season.
But the Yellow River not only has a small flow, but also has several insurmountable nodes along the way: the most critical ones are Sanmenxia and Hukou Falls.
Especially Sanmenxia, its location is quite important, being stuck between Xi'an and Zhengzhou.
All in all, this trip can be described as a real trip over mountains and ridges.
It is almost 700 kilometers from Beijing to Zhengzhou. It only takes one day to reach it along the Beijing-Hankou Railway. This is the only easy section.
Then we have to change carriages and horses in Zhengzhou to go to Lanzhou. This journey of more than 1,000 kilometers will take more than a month if we go quickly.
Because Lanzhou has been an important town since ancient times, the traffic is generally relatively smooth. However, it takes almost two months to get to Dunhuang from Lanzhou because it is really not easy to get around.
In other words, it takes 3 months to travel one way.
In the past, some governors of Shaanxi and Gansu were only on temporary duty and never took office at all because they were too far away.
As for Urumqi, where Liu E was sent to in history, it was thousands of miles away.
Everyone knows that Xinjiang is vast, but don’t forget that Gansu is very long.
The straight-line distance from Urumqi to Lanzhou is 1,700 kilometers, and the distance from Lanzhou to Shanghai is also 1,700 kilometers. Some people have said with emotion: It's not that Xinjiang is too far, but that Gansu is too long. To go to Xinjiang, you have to travel for two days in Gansu.
(Inner Mongolia: Hidden, hidden!)
Li Yu thought about it and felt that it was really not easy in ancient times. He didn't know how Xuanzang managed to sneak to India and back again. He was simply a superman.
But Li Yu didn't think it was a problem. On the contrary, it was a good thing to a certain extent.
——If Dunhuang continues to be unknown, at least it will not be targeted by foreigners, otherwise no one will have time to come to such a distant and difficult-to-reach place.
This trip was much more exciting than the self-driving tours in later generations.
By the time we arrived in Lanzhou after a long journey, everyone felt a little exhausted and needed a good rest.
Due to its important location and being stuck on the main route of the Silk Road, Lanzhou has always been highly valued by various dynasties.
Li Yu had been to Lanzhou before crossing over. This city is located in a small basin in the Loess Plateau. The plain area is actually quite small, and the soil of the Loess Plateau is loose. It is impossible to build on the mountains like the mountain city of Chongqing, which is very dreamy.
Urban layout.
I came here a hundred years in advance and took another look, and I felt that the development here was actually better than I imagined.
Li Yu and the others met Governor Songfan at the Governor's Mansion of Shaanxi and Gansu, as well as Gansu Academician Ye Changchi, Academic Envoy Peng Yingjia and others.
It was probably rare for them to see a person from the capital who was very enthusiastic.
They kept asking about things in the capital, and then after Peng Yingjia knew that Li Yu was still the supervisor of Xinxueti, he told Li Yu some about the development of education in Lanzhou. At this time, the predecessor of Lanzhou University had already appeared.
Li Yu took out Tang Shaoyi's letter, which was a trivial matter for the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, because Liu E's crime was not a serious crime and it was easy to turn a blind eye, so there was no embarrassment.
On the other hand, Ye Changchi, a political scholar in Gansu, was very surprised when he learned that Li Yu was going to Dunhuang.
Li Yu explained: "Master Xuezheng, now foreigners are searching for our treasures everywhere, so we must be on guard."
Ye Changchi said: "Last year, a Taoist priest named Wang came to see me and even brought me a few scriptures from the Tang Dynasty, saying they came from Mogao Grottoes. I asked the local magistrate to seal the scriptures, but I didn't know how to implement them. how."
Li Yu said: "The county magistrate is still far away from the Mogao Grottoes and cannot fully protect it. We should set up our own research point at the Mogao Grottoes and take care of it at the same time."
Ye Changchi did not want the Dunhuang things to be lost at all, but he had no money and had no choice. At that time, he proposed to ask the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu to transport all the scriptures to Lanzhou for safekeeping, but the freight was too high, so he gave up.
The most terrible thing is that they don't pay enough attention to it. They don't know how greedy foreigners are for Chinese cultural relics.
Li Yushuo showed his seal from the Ministry of Rites and said: "I have been ordered by the imperial court to protect cultural relics in an expeditious manner to prevent the disaster in the Old Summer Palace from happening again."
Ye Changchi cupped his hands and said: "I should cooperate, but to be honest, the Yamen really can't get the money."
Li Yu said: "It doesn't matter, that's why I came all the way here. The governor's office only needs to give me a few transfer orders, one to transfer Taoist Wang. As you know, it is not appropriate for a Taoist priest to manage a Buddhist holy place; another one Transfer order and make Liu E the manager of the Mogao Grottoes research site."
Ye Changchi thought for a while, and there was nothing wrong with Li Yu's proposal. Mogao Grottoes was a very desolate place, and few people were willing to go there to be managers. It was almost equivalent to exile.
Ye Changchi said: "Since the Imperial Master has the seal of the imperial court, I will naturally do as you say. If you need our help, just let me know directly."
Li Yu said: "Thank you very much, Master Xuezheng."
That day, the Shaanxi-Gansu Governor's Mansion stayed with Li Yu and others for a meal, and gave Li Yu the few transfer orders he wanted.
This kind of document for mobilizing civilians did not actually need to be stamped by such a high-ranking official, but they were all interested in Li Yu, so they handled the matter diligently.
Moreover, even if Li Yu's official rank was low, a Beijing official was a Beijing official, and Li Yu had the title of Imperial Master, so they had to treat him well.
Li Yu returned the favor and promised to provide as much help as possible to the new learning in Lanzhou.
Li Yu raised his glass and said: "Master Xuezheng, you can write a memorial to Beijing immediately and say that you want to establish the Gansu School of Law and Politics."
Ye Changchi said: "We don't have enough conditions now."
Li Yu said: "This matter has to be done sooner rather than later. I have some friendship with the Minister of Education, and I can tell you secretly that it won't be long before the imperial court orders various places to supervise this matter. If Master Xuezheng completes it in advance, wouldn't he be doing something practical and dare to do it?" With outstanding achievements in the world, it is not impossible for him to be promoted to a higher position."
Ye Changchi is a smart man and said happily: "I can't thank you enough!"
No matter which dynasty it is, after the imperial order is issued, the remote areas will receive it late and cannot contact the capital in time, so the progress will often be slowed down a lot.
At this time, with Li Yu's message, they can do it boldly.
Of course, Li Yu also hopes that Lanzhou, an important town in the northwest, will have an institution of higher learning soon. He cannot mention that Lanzhou still has Lanzhou Ramen in his mind.
What's more, Lanzhou Ramen is not from Lanzhou.
After resting and resting in Lanzhou for four or five days, Li Yu and his party continued on their way.
It is a very challenging journey from Lanzhou to Dunhuang. Although it is still the Silk Road of the past, times have changed.
Li Yu and Liu E were bored on the road, so they talked about stories about the Western Regions.
"I heard that Loulan is rich in beauties. Many countries invaded Loulan for the beauties there." Liu E said.
"Isn't it?" Li Yu said, "I remember that during the Jin Dynasty and the Sixteen Kingdoms period, Zhang Jun, the great warlord who ruled Dunhuang area, took advantage of the chaos in the world and sent troops to attack Loulan. King Loulan had no choice but to donate beautiful women to quell the war.
"
Lu Bicheng asked: "Is she really so beautiful that she can disappear the chaos of war with a smile?"
Li Yu said: "In short, Zhang Jun liked this Loulan beauty very much. He gave her the title of Beauty and built a palace."
Lu Bicheng asked again: "Can you have the beauty of Xi Shi Diao Chan?"
Li Yu smiled and said: "That's not the case. I can only say that Zhang Jun has never seen her before. The Loulan beauty has blond hair and blue eyes, which is different from the Central Plains women."
"Blonde?" Lu Bicheng said, "Aren't they just like Europeans?"
Li Yu said: "You guessed it right, the beauties in Loulan are very close to the European race."
Lu Bicheng suddenly realized: "It seems that there was no large-scale communication with each other back then. I was really surprised to suddenly see such a woman."
The corpse unearthed in Loulan in later generations, known as the "Beauty of Loulan" for thousands of years, was genetically determined to be very close to that of a European.
This corpse is still in the museum. Although it has been dead for thousands of years, its eyelashes are long and it is still worthy of the word beauty. It is difficult to imagine how it looked when it was alive.
In the yellow sand desert, the journey was boring. Li Yu suddenly remembered some cartoons that he had seen in his childhood that were very impressive, so he continued to tell them.
"These articles are about the clever Afanti and Master Bai."
Li Yu talked about selling tree shade, comparing wisdom, stealing donkeys, looking for fun, etc., which made them laugh.
Lu Bicheng said: "It sounds more interesting than the foreign fairy tales I read. I want to draw them with a pen."
Li Yu naturally agreed with both hands: "After this long journey, maybe I can complete some first drafts, and then go back and do some storyboards to make it more perfect."
In the early years, China was actually very strong in animation. Shanghai Art Studio produced countless excellent animations, which were not inferior to Japan and other countries at the same time, and these stories were more in line with China's cultural environment.
Lu Bicheng has good art skills. Historically, she went to Columbia University to major in art, and she can paint both Eastern and Western paintings.
Lu Bicheng really started to draw in the carriage along the way.
Li Yu happened to know those classic puppet images, so he became an assistant, which made the journey less boring.